Low Temperature Constrained Sintering of Cerium Gadolinium OxideFilms for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Applications

Abstract

Cerium gadolinium oxide (CGO) has been identified as an acceptable solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrolyte at temperatures (500-700 C) where cheap, rigid, stainless steel interconnect substrates can be used. Unfortunately, both the high sintering temperature of pure CGO, >1200 C, and the fact that constraint during sintering often results in cracked, low density ceramic films, have complicated development of metal supported CGO SOFCs. The aim of this work was to find new sintering aids for Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95, and to evaluate whether they could be used to produce dense, constrained Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95 films at temperatures below 1000 C. To find the optimal sintering aid, Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95 was doped with a variety of elements, of which lithium was found to be the most effective. Dilatometric studies indicated that by doping CGO with 3mol% lithium nitrate, it was possible to sinter pellets to a relative density of 98.5% at 800 C--a full one hundred degrees below the previous low temperature sintering record for CGO. Further, it was also found that a sintering aid's effectiveness could be explained in terms of its size, charge and high temperature mobility. A closer examination of lithium doped Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95 indicated that lithium affects sintering by producing a Li2O-Gd2O3-CeO2 liquid at the CGO grain boundaries. Due to this liquid phase sintering, it was possible to produce dense, crack-free constrained films of CGO at the record low temperature of 950 C using cheap, colloidal spray deposition processes. This is the first time dense constrained CGO films have been produced below 1000 C and could help commercialize metal supported ceria based solid oxide fuel cells.